Liu Rengui's Attack

After the great war, the theme of Diannan Circuit became restoring people's livelihoods and accumulating strength.

However, on the other side, Liu Rengui, who had received instructions from Gao Yuan, didn't think so.

The foundation of Zhongnan Circuit was weak, which meant it had already hit rock bottom and had nothing left to lose.

Gao Yuan not only left him the Second Division but also gave him most of the spoils of war, along with the authority to act at his own discretion.

Now that he had been shown a way out, Liu Rengui was naturally tempted.

Returning from another mission, Ma Song excitedly found Liu Rengui to report.

"Commander, this trip was quite fruitful. We captured over three hundred people, all young and strong."

Liu Rengui also beamed with joy, opening the ledger to record another entry.

"Same old rules: distribute the young women to the soldiers, and send all the men to Coastal Defense."

Ma Song patted his chest.

"Don't worry, Commander. This isn't our first time doing this; we're very familiar with it."

Liu Rengui did this naturally to develop Zhongnan Circuit, and the soldiers under him naturally benefited as well.

Not only did they earn military merit, but they could also bring back foreign concubines; if they really didn't want them, they could sell them for a sum of money.

Liu Rengui knew that if you want a horse to run, you can't just let it eat grass; it needs fine grain and salt.

Those foreign women naturally became the "fine feed" he gave to the horses.

These foreign women could carry on the family line, and selling them could fetch a generous sum of money.

Therefore, the soldiers were very enthusiastic about these small-scale actions.

And Liu Rengui's reward was naturally the proceeds from selling those foreign slaves—the population.

From the time Gao Yuan issued the order until before the Lunar New Year, in just under six months,

Zhongnan Circuit launched over three hundred raids on the neighboring prefectures of Khmer and Toungoo.

The scale was small, each time involving only a few hundred people, and they would retreat after capturing dozens or a hundred people.

But the frequency was high, leaving the neighboring prefectures in a state of constant panic.

Finally, it progressed to the point where the Second Division was deployed across the border, annihilating an entire Khmer transport team.

Over a thousand people were captured, and the supplies being transported to the border were completely plundered.

Left at the scene were only some uniforms, boots, and weapons used by the Toungoo army.

This greatly enraged the Khmer King, Suryavarman, who issued orders for retaliation.

A commoner's rage might spill blood for five steps, but an Emperor's rage leaves a million corpses.

Although the Khmer King couldn't leave a million Toungoo corpses, he could certainly cause heavy casualties.

On the first day of the twelfth month of the third year of era name, a main Khmer army suddenly raided the Toungoo garrison in Lopburi.

In just five days, they occupied two county seats, and thousands of toungoo people were captured and turned into slaves.

Even if Toungoo was wounded, it was still a wounded tiger; how could it swallow this insult?

In mid-December, Toungoo mobilized over thirty thousand main troops to launch an attack on Si Thep.

Khmer was not to be outdone, mobilizing fifty thousand troops to station in Si Thep, striking a posture for a decisive battle.

After reading the battle report in his hand, Liu Rengui couldn't help but shake his head and then laugh.

"These foreigners are really simple-minded; a little provocation and they're at each other's throats again."

Ma Song also chuckled upon seeing the battle report.

"Commander, I see both sides are still in a standoff. Should we give them a hand?"

"How so?"

"By adding fuel to the fire, of course. Let's do another 'business deal,' the bigger the better."

As he spoke, an irrepressible look of excitement appeared on Ma Song's face.

Since starting the "business," he had already taken two fair-featured foreign concubines.

The foreign girls, living a better life, didn't resist; instead, they enjoyed it, and one was even pregnant.

Liu Rengui gave him a side-eye.

"They are busy with a standoff right now. Going to stir up trouble would be telling them there's someone else involved, wouldn't it?"

Ma Song scratched his head sheepishly.

"Then what do you suggest, Commander?"

Liu Rengui took out brush and ink, wrote a letter on the spot, sealed it, and handed it to Ma Song.

"Send someone who understands the Khmer language to deliver this to Phnom Penh by fast horse. It's best if it's presented in person to the Khmer King, Suryavarman."

"Understood. This humble general takes his leave."

Liu Rengui knew that the tempers of both warring parties were already flared; at this moment, they didn't need oil, but firewood.

He was naturally sending Suryavarman the confidence to take the initiative in the war.

That was, he would send troops to attack Phitsanulok and Nan Province to support the Khmer army's efforts.

As Liu Rengui expected, after receiving his promise, Suryavarman sent more troops toward Si Thep and Khorat.

After the last great war, Toungoo's forces in the former lands of Ayutthaya had been reduced by nearly half, so facing the Khmer reinforcement, they were unable to mobilize mobile forces for a while.

"Bastards! Those damn Khmer people! This time I must crush them to wipe out our previous humiliation!"

When Bayinnaung heard that the Khmer, who used to be submissive, were now so arrogant, he was fuming with rage. He slammed his hand heavily on the table and said fiercely,

"Order all regions: every prefecture must send garrison troops to reinforce us. Since my Royal Father won't give me reinforcements, I'll get them myself."

His subordinates quickly tried to persuade him.

"Your Highness, the garrison forces in various places are already few. If the Han people take advantage of the opening..."

Bayinnaung waved his hand.

"It's fine. I won't draw from the Phitsanulok garrison."

Hearing this, everyone around him breathed a sigh of relief and went their separate ways to write letters and arrange the troop movements.

Thus, this conflict, secretly instigated by Liu Rengui, finally escalated to the level of a decisive battle between the two countries, which was exactly what Liu Rengui had hoped for.

Upon hearing that Toungoo had begun mobilizing troops, the Zhongnan Circuit army also began to gather in secret.

With the Second Division as the core, Liu Rengui mobilized five thousand troops from various places and began to concentrate them toward Phitsanulok.

During the last counterattack, Liu Rengui had taken half of Phitsanulok; this time, his goal was to take the entire prefecture. If he could take Nan Province along the way, it would be even more wonderful.

By the time Gao Yuan, thousands of miles away, received Liu Rengui's report requesting to deploy troops, the Zhongnan Circuit army had already begun its move.

After reading the letter, Gao Yuan handed it to Mu Sheng beside him and asked,

"Father-in-law, with such a large movement on Zhengze's side, will the troop strength be slightly insufficient?"

Mu Sheng quickly scanned the letter.

"The troop strength is indeed insufficient. However, now that the First Division has gone to Dali for garrison duty, the only ones Guchang County can mobilize are the Beiwei Army's Third Division and the newly formed Fourth Division. These are Guchang's protection and cannot be moved lightly. I think we should mobilize troops from Puer, Guangnan, and other places."

Gao Yuan's initial goal was exactly this; the Third Division was the last mobile force in his hands, to be kept for emergencies.

As for the Fourth Division, it had just been formed; not only was it not at full strength, but its training was also not in place. Sending them out now would be equivalent to sending them to their deaths.

After some thought, Gao Yuan began to make deployments.

"Order the Fourth Division to be stationed in Guangnan City. Draw one thousand Xuanjia Army soldiers each from Guangnan and Puer, plus one thousand from Luang Namtha, by Huo Jun to reinforce Zhongnan Circuit."

Although three thousand troops were not many, they were the few Gao Yuan could mobilize, and they served as strong support for Liu Rengui.

Every time it came to this, Gao Yuan felt the shortage of troops under his command.

But what could be done? This Southwest borderland was not a fertile land that could produce large amounts of grain; supporting these troops was already very difficult.

If he expanded the army further, even by another five thousand men, the finances would likely go into a deficit.

Looking at those fertile prefectures of Khmer and Toungoo on the map, Gao Yuan couldn't help but have tears of envy flow from the corners of his mouth.